Old Fashioned Rhubarb Pudding Cake

Yay, finally I have my own rhubarb to use. I planted it last spring and it has grown a lot since then. Now its ready to be used for baking.

 I pulled out quite a few stalks for my cake recipe. About six.

 This is the recipe I tried, that my mom gave me a few years ago

Wash up and chop the rhubarb.

Cook it in a pot with the sugar over medium heat for 15 minutes. 

 Mix all the rest of the ingredients, including the 1/2 cup of left over sugar.

Spread the batter into a 9" greased baking dish. 

Pour the rhubarb over top.

 Bake in preheated oven of 350 degrees, for 30-35 min.

It was so easy and the ingredients are so basic. My favourite kind of recipe!

Garden Notes

 May 19th the seeds were planted, after many containers of manure were added to the soil. Thankfully we were blessed to get the manure from a friends farm, saving quite a bit for us! So here goes my first attempt at starting a garden with just seeds.

 Here is the plan for my hopeful garden. On one of the pages of my garden journal is written: Gardening is a way of showing you believe in tomorrow.

 I spy with my little eye, something that is green! Not even a week later the radishes are sprouting.

And next came up the beans. I have yet to see the tomatoes, peppers, and carrots. I'm not sure if these usually take longer to sprout. Or maybe we planted them too deep. I hope they come up, I would be so disappointed it they don't.

// Pause Button //

Ferns and trilliums on the edge of the forrest.

If we are children of God,

we have a tremendous treasure in nature

and will realize that it is holy and sacred.

We will see God reaching out to us in every wind that blows,

every sunrise and sunset,

every cloud in the sky,

every flower that blooms,

and every leaf that fades. 

-Oswald Chambers

May Days

Our pond resident admiring a statue with a striking resemblance.

 Play on a May day.

 The smell of the lilacs were so captivating this day.

 Apple blossoms from my wee little apple tree.

 More of the pond life.

 Now time to plant a gift I recieved of impatience, and some seeds.

 I up-cycled some of the containers I'm using for my plants. The tins on the left were once for tea. I got the idea from here . The square pot under I found at a yard sale for 50 cents! The green one in the middle, same price at the Salvation Army. The red and yellow one was a cookie jar before the lid broke.

 There was a lot of pestering coming from the little one, to have the big garden planted at the same time. But there was only a bit of potting going on this afternoon.

 Some bloomers I made to go under all those dresses and skirts my daughter wants to wear all the time. It was so easy to make, I got the pattern from here. I used a shirt that no longer fit, for the material, it was great for this project.

A nice cookie recipe, I tried from one of my favourite magazines. The recipe for these Ginger Biscuits can be found here

Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Psalm 85:11

Digging in to a New Plot (Metaphorically Speaking)

My sister, helping me make my new garden plot!

 Digging into a new plot could very well sound like starting something new in life. Or  digging in sounds parallel to going deep, to bring to light, issues in ones life.
 Here is a spot that looks fine, grass is growing, why would there be any reason to question what is underneath. But once that shovel breaks through the turf, then all is revealed: the grass can be pulled back like sod to reveal that the earth below is not as rich and healthy as one would have thought. It is mixed with sand, and rock. Now that it is exposed it reveals why the grass gets so easily scorched and dead half way through the summer there. Also its obvious that this plot needs an overhaul. Dig deep and turn the soil, dig out the rocks, pull the weeds and add to this plot what it is lacking: compost, manure, and black earth.
 So my parallel to this would be: We cant pretend buried hurts, fears, dysfunctions, bitterness, resentment, is OK to leave buried deep as long as they have been there for so long, that it looks OK when it is left alone. In Psalm 19:12 it says- How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults-. Sure you can smile, look put together, but once something or someone treads that plot that you leave alone, it can get disrupted and your thoughts are: Why am I reacting this way? Why am I so sensitive about that? Why does this bother me so much? Why cant I get over this set back? Why can I not progress in this area? What is holding me back.............?
 Dig in. Bring to light in your mind what is not letting you progress in an area of your life. Acknowledge that buried issue, take it out, and hand it over to God. (Eph. 4:21-23 NLT) Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
 I'm not keeping those big old rocks in my garden! Those weeds are coming out! Because I want beautiful things to grow here. (2 Cor. 5:17) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone the new has come in.
 And now that I think about this walk I went on recently this spring, I noticed how those who have planted delicate little trees, they placed a little fence around it. Or flower gardens are edged with a little barrier of rocks, or fence. In this same way we need to protect our new growth. It is hard work, and the new growth is delicate. We need to protect it. Checking over the area for the old trying to come up again, or something else corruptive trying to invade the new growth. (Psalm 91:9,10) If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.
 Its HARD WORK but the result is so much more full filling when the job is done right. The garden flourishes, and thrives, with a thorough job. I've had gardens that I didn't properly maintain. And they were a sad sight, and it was easy to see that they lacked care, and maintenance.
 So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation - garden of your life. (James 1:21 MSG)

Well this is the new spot of a bigger garden for this year. A bigger adventure that I am hoping will ensue a bigger harvest : ) More work I know but I believe it will be worth it. Which goes along with the fact that my gardening feats are not solely inhabited out doors, but also are an ongoing job in my own heart. The words above are really a reflection of my desires and ongoing strivings of my own heart.

Great Grand Questions!

We recently had a visit from Great Grandma, and a second cousin who travelled many provinces over. My youngest made the visit very memorable for me. She clearly remembers her Great Grandma, and with having only met her a couple of times is pretty impressive. But I believe its that she finds Great Grandma very fascinating. And she was quite impressed that she wore a "princess dress" the last time she saw her. Well the curiosity of her 4 year old self got the better of her later on when she stared asking about Great Grandmas moles, her gold teeth, her wig ...um hum, yup I don't think she left any questions unasked! Oh ya she also asked "why do you have cracks in your face?" So she tells her little 88 year younger great grand daughter, "well when you get my age you will have cracks in your face too." But really I was so thankful that my Grandma was so kind in all her answers, being understanding of her curiosity. 

Little Great Grand Daughter giving Great Grandma a stuffy to sleep with at bed time.

Four Generations of mothers and daughters! (Gods richest blessings)

A Local Garden Centre with a Sense of Humour

I'm sorry...but I thought this was funny!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This is the best one I've tried. Its been my stand by for years.

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 cups sour cream (or just use up a whole container)
Topping: 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped nuts (pref. walnuts or pecans)

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Grease and flour a bunting pan or 9" square. Blend first 4 ingredients. Sift dry together, and add sour cream. Spread 1/2 the batter in pan, sprinkle 1/2 the topping and cover with remaining batter. Then before you sprinkle the rest of the topping you can smear the remaining sour cream (1/4 cup) over the top of the batter (you can skip this if you preffer), then sprinkle the topping on. Bake for 45 min. Yum!

See how yummy it is!

Routine Drive Brings Blessings

No, I don't have a hobby farm or even live in the country, but the Lord has allowed me to gaze upon this kind of beauty within the monotonous drive of a gathered hour each week day.
God has poured out his love into our hearts. Romans 5:5. I see His love through...

Fluffy sheep and their lambs,

goats and cows,

horses,

 Mama horse and her foal.

And this... I really do wonder what is up with this creature(?). I was driving by and thought it was a turtle crossing the road, because of the way it was crawling. So I pulled over to help it cross before it got run over. But after I walked up to it, I realised it was a frog...and then after an even closer look: frogs!! It looks like one is piggy backing on the other, but it could possibly be a deformation. I'm not sure. The poor thing could hardly even hop. It would be interesting to know what is up with the frogs.
Well some added interest to my drive home! Thank you Lord for all you offer in the blessings of nature.

Forest Findings

We are off on our hike through the forest

Just on the outer edge of the woods we spot something...

And MacMurray is the most curious, and is enjoying taunting an emblem of Canada : the beaver. It was referred to a symbol of Canada in the early years for its fur being valuable in trade, and for Canada's industry seeing how the beaver is such a clever busy builder.

Anyway, as interesting as it was to be able to watch the beaver and get a good close look, there was something obviously wrong with him. We suspected he was hit by a car. His behaviour was odd, being that he was just hanging out in a little field. Also he looked wet, possibly with blood on its back end.

We let him be and went on our way to explore in the forest.

The rug of the forest. I wonder what kind of moss this is? I think maybe fern moss...

An abundance of drift wood has gathered on the rocky shore, making it easy to explore along there.

The province of Ontario's emblem the Trillium, ready to bloom soon. Interestingly the seeds are spread by ants!

A Human Porcupine!!

This most likely is a squirrel or chipmunk home (?) 

A little posy.

One twisted tree, perfect for a seat.

Until next time...